Isaiah 1

¹The vision concerning Judah and Jerusalem that Isaiah son of Amoz saw during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.

A Rebellious Nation

²Hear me, you heavens! Listen, earth!

For the Lord has spoken:

“I reared children and brought them up,

but they have rebelled against me.

³The ox knows its master,

the donkey its owner’s manger,

but Israel does not know,

my people do not understand.”

⁴Woe to the sinful nation,

a people whose guilt is great,

a brood of evildoers,

children given to corruption!

They have forsaken the Lord;

they have spurned the Holy One of Israel

and turned their backs on him.

⁵Why should you be beaten anymore?

Why do you persist in rebellion?

Your whole head is injured,

your whole heart afflicted.

⁶From the sole of your foot to the top of your head

there is no soundness—

only wounds and welts

and open sores,

not cleansed or bandaged

or soothed with olive oil.

⁷Your country is desolate,

your cities burned with fire;

your fields are being stripped by foreigners

right before you,

laid waste as when overthrown by strangers.

⁸Daughter Zion is left

like a shelter in a vineyard,

like a hut in a cucumber field,

like a city under siege.

⁹Unless the Lord Almighty

had left us some survivors,

we would have become like Sodom,

we would have been like Gomorrah.

¹⁰Hear the word of the Lord,

you rulers of Sodom;

listen to the instruction of our God,

you people of Gomorrah!

¹¹“The multitude of your sacrifices—

what are they to me?”

says the Lord.

“I have more than enough of burnt offerings,

of rams and the fat of fattened animals;

I have no pleasure

in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats.

¹²When you come to appear before me,

who has asked this of you,

this trampling of my courts?

¹³Stop bringing meaningless offerings!

Your incense is detestable to me.

New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations—

I cannot bear your worthless assemblies.

¹⁴Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals

I hate with all my being.

They have become a burden to me;

I am weary of bearing them.

¹⁵When you spread out your hands in prayer,

I hide my eyes from you;

even when you offer many prayers,

I am not listening.

Your hands are full of blood!

¹⁶Wash and make yourselves clean.

Take your evil deeds out of my sight;

stop doing wrong.

¹⁷Learn to do right; seek justice.

Defend the oppressed.

Take up the cause of the fatherless;

plead the case of the widow.

¹⁸“Come now, let us settle the matter,”

says the Lord.

“Though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red as crimson,

they shall be like wool.

¹⁹If you are willing and obedient,

you will eat the good things of the land;

²⁰but if you resist and rebel,

you will be devoured by the sword.”

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

²¹See how the faithful city

has become a prostitute!

She once was full of justice;

righteousness used to dwell in her—

but now murderers!

²²Your silver has become dross,

your choice wine is diluted with water.

²³Your rulers are rebels,

partners with thieves;

they all love bribes

and chase after gifts.

They do not defend the cause of the fatherless;

the widow’s case does not come before them.

²⁴Therefore the Lord, the Lord Almighty,

the Mighty One of Israel, declares:

“Ah! I will vent my wrath on my foes

and avenge myself on my enemies.

²⁵I will turn my hand against you;

I will thoroughly purge away your dross

and remove all your impurities.

²⁶I will restore your leaders as in days of old,

your rulers as at the beginning.

Afterward you will be called

the City of Righteousness,

the Faithful City.”

²⁷Zion will be delivered with justice,

her penitent ones with righteousness.

²⁸But rebels and sinners will both be broken,

and those who forsake the Lord will perish.

²⁹“You will be ashamed because of the sacred oaks

in which you have delighted;

you will be disgraced because of the gardens

that you have chosen.

³⁰You will be like an oak with fading leaves,

like a garden without water.

³¹The mighty man will become tinder

and his work a spark;

both will burn together,

with no one to quench the fire.”